Essay on Philmont Trek

Journeying through the mountainous desert towards this remote, yet beautiful park, I was shocked by the extent of the untamed land. I searched my mind, tempted to recall a time. I gazed upon an expanse of earth so untouched by human hands. Before me, the earth and sky unfolded, stretching for miles with little interruption. The closer we journeyed to the park, the more I began to feel isolated from the rest of the developed world. Overcome with feelings of excitement and curiosity, I felt

In Matthew Hedger’s article “Yosemite National Park Day Hikes: Vernal Falls Death March”, he claims that you don’t always know what you’re getting into and find that things are harder than they seem. Hedger supports his claim with a story of his hike up Vernal Falls. His purpose is to inform his readers that you can always get through difficult things and that they’re stronger than they think. The intended audience is anyone who enjoys a good story and wants to know about hiking.

After driving around some breathtaking mountains, the land began to flatten out and the temperature began increasing. A few hours later, we arrived at the site of they day’s planned adventure. We

”It will be a full day’s walk to get to the mountain path.” Sara informed them as she led the way. Hiking for hours and still miles away from the path leading down mountain, Sara, showing her disapproval, finally asked, “My Lord Nightburn, why did you bring them with us?”

As we were one hour into our journey, I began seeing the huge Appalachian mountains. The mountains looked surreal. The closer that we got to Lake Placid the larger the mountains were. We passed a waterfall that was crashing down against the clear blue lake. The lake was a puddle that casted a reflection of the bright sun. It took a long drive to get there, but once we got there it was sunny and bright. We brought up our loads of clothing and then went down to the beach on Mirror lake. There was boundaries on the beach of where you could go. The boundaries were marked with a rope and buoys. We had not known about those boundaries, so we crossed them. Each time we crossed them we would get yelled and whistled at. We saw a rock that was underwater. We really wanted to go explore it, so we ended up being complete rebels. We would hold our breath underwater and go explore the rock, and once we ran out of breathe would swim as quickly as we could up to the rope and pull ourselves inbounds. It was fun swimming, but we got tired very quickly. We headed back to the hotel, and took a

Breakfast didn't have to many mosquitoes in them, and rounding up the oxen, chicken, and cows were quite easier than normal. Today is going to be a good day I thought to myself. We were all traveling behind the leader, when he stopped at this bubbling pool of water. He screamed, We're here! I had no clue what here was but I just followed what everyone else was doing. They said we could wash our clothes here and clean up everything, so I did. It was very warm water, and I thought it was boiling but it was just from ancient volcanic activity. All of our clothes were washed and I was right about the good day I was going to have. For some reason I wasn't sore or tired when I woke up, so that led me to believe that I was going to have a good day. We left Soda Spring around lunch time and our next stop was Fort Hall. I heard Fort Hall you can trade things for hats and other types of clothing. When we get there I'm going to buy a hat to keep the sun out of my eyes. I heard you can also buy other things like repair kits and that stuff. We reached Fort Hall at about 6 o'clock at night. We decided to rest for the rest of the day, because there's no point to go out for 2 hours to move on the journey. In the morning we left at 6 because we forgot to wake up, and we left Fort Hall. About a week and a half later we came upon the Three Island Crossing. Now we had to cross the snake river. Our choices were to ride a ferry along the shallow looking river, or float along the river with the wagon and making our animals swim. I talked to Mr. Swanson about this because I didn't want to try and guide my oxen and cow along the river, that just seems outrageous. I finally convinced him to make us take the ferry, because it would be a lot easier and the cost is only $20. We made it across easy with nothing bad happening, and now we are on the other side. I'm afraid one of these days I will accidentally drop

Our tents were barely holding up, our equipment pile was swept into the raging river next to our home base. Without our equipment, we had no chance in surviving the next few days. I watched as our only hope slowly tumbled down the small ledge…

Hike! Alright lets go" I yell out to Sammy and Jack and we are off to a slow trek "gee" I yell out to Lucky and he pulls us to the right. "Haw" I yell to Molly and she pulls the team to the left of the field that is dusted in snow. "whoa" I yell and my team pulls to a halt and they wait clam and patient as I go down the line and take of the rigging. When I am done I lead them back to our cabin, I end up dozen off In the cabin. In the morning it is so hectic that there is no room for talking, when my team is dressed and rigged up to go we head to the start line. A few teams down I see Cindy Abbott a veteran and a good one, but I push her out of my mind and focus on the task at hand. The crowd goes quite and me and the all the other mushers wait for the gun shot to sound. when the shot sounds I yell above the other mushers "mush" to my team and Sammy and Max jump into action dashing into motion. I notice that we are keeping pace with a woman named Zora Deneuve, but I soon pull ahead of her and her team. It wasn't snowing we started the race but now I can see the little snow flakes fly by as my team races by. After 11 miles I check in at Campbell Airstrip, and when I check in they tell me that i am in fourth

My friends and I consider ourselves to be pretty outdoorsy people. Whether we are kayaking down rivers or exploring through caves, we tend to always have the most fun with each other whenever we are outside. So as Lauren, JR, Maya, and I were thinking about what to do for Maya’s birthday, hiking the Walls of Jericho just seemed like the best idea ever. None of us had ever hiked the Walls and had only the highest expectations for the adventure. All week we were anticipating the trip and finally the brisk October Saturday came and as we were filling up our water bottles and bags with granola bars, we talked about how fun today would be. Little did we know that we were going to learn during the hike that some of the most fun days are the ones

Tizbeth thought she understood. “I know you must be lonely here, but I have a real life when I am done with this little journey.”

The hiking trail begins with a pile of loose rocks, a talus slope, thanks to rocks that fall down one of the walls of the American Fork Canyon. The walls of the American Fork Canyon were widened by erosion. Many of the rocks are cracked. This is caused by the presence of vegetation. The trees and other plants that grow in the rocky area dig their roots down deep into the rocks, causing cracking. This is known as physical organic weathering. The valley of the American Fork Canyon has a V shape when viewed from a distance. This is indicative of its age, meaning it is young and was never covered over in ice, or glaciated. If this had occurred, the valley would have a U shape instead, and it would mean that the valley is older. The tunnel

Fifty miles away from civilization. Standing on the edge, looking down over one thousand feet. The cool breath of the gorge drifts over the ridge and retreats to the sky. I carry all of my belongings with me. All that I have is some food, an extra pair of wool socks, a hammock, a fire starter, and a pocket knife in my backpack with a tarp tied to the side. My pack is battered by the journey and is covered in dirt stains. The musty smell of nature saturates my belongings, but the smell comforts me. Living a life of simplicity outdoors brings peace to my mind. Alone with my backpack, I can release the stress of normal life. Without the pressure of modern society, I am able to climb any mountain. Just like streams flowing to where they came, society continues apart from my existence in a worthless cycle. On a journey with my Deuter backpack, I live a second life of solitude and serenity independent from the meaninglessness of the world.

As we settled in on the campground that was filled with puddles and puddles of water all over the ground, we all realized that we had a long weekend ahead of us. We dropped all of our suitcases off in the cabins and proceeded on to the main lodge, with no expectations for what was next. The instructors split us up into two groups and then it began. Luckily, my friends Michael, Justin, and Rupak were in my group with me. It started off with an ice breaker activity before, which consisted of everyone trudging around the room, hoping that the activity would soon be over. Once it finally ended, everyone prayed that the next activity would be at least slightly better.

One week a summer, for as long as I can remember, I wave goodbye to my mom through the car window at six in the morning. I am inside my family’s Subaru Outback along with my dad, little brother, little sister, and a trunk full of camping gear packed so methodically that there is a six inch square of sight out the rear window. After a five hour drive we will be transported from the neat suburbs of Long Island to the forests of the Adirondack Mountains, where we will be greeted by my Aunt Carol and her dog Baxter. For this week we will sleep in a lean-to looking out onto Taylor Pond at our favorite campsite, I-3. We will spend our days in the pond and our nights around a fire. Our car and cell phones will be a five-mile canoe ride away, just far enough that we may actually escape their omnipresence for a while. Although we may return home with clothes reeking of smoke and bodies covered in mosquito bites, our trip to this other world will have been well worth it.

The small group ended up going on their hike, perhaps just to take their minds off things and get some fresh air. At the peak of the mountain, the view of the Paradise Planet was stunning. The island was surrounded by water as far as the eye could see, but the colors were not as vibrant as they had been the day that Trent arrived.